Cravings
by monkeywahl
Summary: Lucy was hungry and there was a spider. [AU/NaLu/Tumblr prompt: "you found me crying on the kitchen floor in the middle of the night surrounded by a shattered jelly jar"]


Every husband's nightmare could be hearing your pregnant wife cry in an undefinable location.

Natsu just woke to his.

He threw the covers from his body once he frantically realized the cries were _not_ coming from their cat. He gradually worked the slumber from his mind as he dashed to the open doorway. His left shoulder collided with the door frame and it flung him backwards a few feet from the rough impact. His complaint was a whine as pain ricocheted around his arm, burrowing into his bones. He clamped his hand over the source of pain, deciding to ignore it to focus on a more important matter.

His wife's wails were growing in pitch.

"Lucy!?" he desperately called as he neared the kitchen, heart in his throat, coming to a halt in the archway. Her snivels continued as shock registered on her face, and an apology fled past her frowning lips.

"I'm so-rry I woke you!" Lucy sobbed, chest bouncing as her red stained hands came to attempt to wipe away her flood of tears.

Natsu gasped and took in the scene illuminated by the dim light above the sink.

What Natsu first thought was blood, was just jelly covering Lucy's hands, the floor, and the far wall. There was strawberry jelly everywhere. Glass, too, with his upset, pregnant wife sitting in the center of it all. Her hair was up in a messy bun, her cheeks blotchy and nose dripping.

A slice of bread laid face-down on the tiles beside the island counter top. The opened jar of crunchy peanut butter led Natsu to the belief that it glued that piece of bread to the floor.

"Are you hurt?" he asked warily, his eyes roving her body for any sign. He took a step forward as Lucy shook her head, her cries calming slightly. "Okay, okay, good, so.." he began, deciding it wasn't best to have Lucy stand while surrounded by glass, "don't move. I'll clean this up and then we'll get you to stand."

Lucy continued to sniffle as Natsu dashed to the pantry in the hallway to retrieve a broom and dustpan. He returned to sweep up the glass the best he could, then dumped it into the trash. He grabbed a few dampened paper towels to catch the smaller pieces and jelly after.

While on his knees before Lucy, he glanced up, wondering, "What happened here? Why do you have it"―he held up the paper towel covered in globs of red for a moment―"all over your hands... and now face. Oh god, Lu! You're a mess!"

Natsu broke out into a lopsided grin as he wiped the floor. His wife chuckled as she sniffled once more, wiping beneath her nostrils with the back of her right hand.

"Well... I had to pee." She exhaled shakily. "After I went, I wanted to have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. So.. I pulled out all the ingredients and then spread the peanut butter on first. I was holding the bread while doing so... and then it slipped out of my hand and I dropped it." Her eyes flicked down, cheeks blooming a soft pink out of embarrassment.

"I didn't really want to.. bend down, 'cause we both know I wouldn't have been able to get back up, so I was gonna leave it-"

"For Happy to lick up?"

" _Until the morning_ so you could do it. And hey, some cats like peanut butter."

Natsu sat back on his calves and Lucy continued. "And then..." She looked away.

"Then...?" Natsu urged.

"Then," she started sheepishly, "I couldn't twist the top off the jelly jar. I was facing away from the counter so my belly wouldn't press against it." Natsu nodded, raising an eyebrow in expectancy. With a sigh, Lucy finished quickly, "Look, there was a spider, babe."

"A.. spider, you say."

"A spider. A huge black one. It's legs were half the size of my index finger, Natsu."

Both of Natsu's brows raised in amusement as he chortled in disbelief. He ran a hand through his disheveled hair and his index finger caught a knot. He pulled through it. "Lucy, I doubt one of that size could even make it in here."

"Obviously one did! I'm not exaggerating!" She paused for a moment, sighing and looking around at the mess she caused. "It could have been a redback. You heard about that last year on the news... But anyways, that little – excuse my French – _bastard_ crawled down its nasty little web right in front of my face. I screamed first. Did you hear? No? Well then I flailed my arms and hit the spider, and the jar kind of got... _thrown_ in the air... and I fell to the ground to duck-"

"You _fell_?!"

"I just hit my knees hard. I'm fine, don't worry." Natsu hardly relaxed. "So, that, and not being able to have my snack made me start to cry."

"Jeez, Lucy..." Natsu sighed, grabbing a clean paper towel and wiping her face. "Wait, you said you threw it..."―his eyes narrowed―"which..."

Natsu looked up and slid the material off her cheek. There was a dent in the ceiling. "How did you manage to..." he mumbled in astonishment.

The man's mouth hung open as his focus landed back on his wife. She immediately burst with, "I can fix it, I promise!"

"Now... while that _would_ be a funny sight..." Natsu put the used paper towel on the floor beside him with a sigh. He took Lucy's sticky hands within his own and squeezed gently. "What kind of husband would I be if I made my pregnant wife do such a thing?"

Lucy turned away and pouted her lip, looking down. "A reasonable one, I guess.. since I _did_ wake you up an hour earlier than usual."

"A _horrible_ one, you mean, and that doesn't matter."

The soon-to-be dad picked his head up and craned it so he could catch a glimpse of the clock on the stove. It was five in the morning. He turned back to Lucy. "I might has well get ready for work now, so... Do you want to go take a bath with me? To get yourself cleaned up as well?"

Lucy looked to Natsu, smiling softly. "Won't you be late, though? If we take one together? Because you usually take showers and we could be in there for a while."

Natsu shook his head: "Nah. And even if I am, so what? My boss will understand if I tell him my pregnant wife needed some help, yeah?"

Lucy nodded. "Yeah," she agreed.

Natsu squeezed her hands one more time before he released them and said, "Well, time to get you up."

Natsu stood and outstretched his hands and Lucy placed hers within his. He leaned back a bit and pulled. Lucy inhaled, rocked backwards, and then got to her knees as she came forward. She exhaled next, rocked forward and when she came back, put her weight on the front of her feet and stood. Natsu tightened his hold on her and aided her by pulling harder and grabbing onto her waist to balance her.

"Thanks honey," Lucy breathed, straightening herself while holding onto his forearm.

Natsu replied, "Sure," and then moved his hand to interlace his fingers with hers. "Come on."

Natsu was late to work but his boss didn't mind.

* * *

 **A/N:** I suck at endings

Story related fun fact: Venomous redback spiders entered Japan from Australia in 2014. They were first found in a small park in a residential area in Mitaka in Tokyo.

A huge thank you to my beta Fairytaillovegirl!

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Fairy Tail or the characters


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